Category: stories

Many years ago, not long after Susan and I were married, we were at her parents’ house in Chattanooga and I overheard Susan’s mom say that their gutters needed cleaning. Wanting to be a good son-in-law, I found a ladder, climbed on the house, and started cleaning the gutters. I had been working quite a while without anyone knowing I was there, when I realized Susan’s mom had understated the truth… the gutters were packed with leaves and nuts and the job was taking far longer than I expected. I had reached the front of the house, above the driveway, when Susan’s dad walked outside. “Well,” I thought to myself, “at least Mr. Taylor will see what  a good son-in-law I am.” But to my disappointment, he never looked up as he busied himself with something trivial down below. I made a little more noise than usual and I even coughed a couple of times, but Mr. Taylor did not hear or notice me at all. Determined to be seen, I started tossing leaves and nuts out on the driveway as far as I could. Finally, Mr. Taylor looked up and saw what a wonderful man his daughter had married. “Dana! You didn’t need to do that! But thanks for being so thoughtful. You are doing a great job!” Bashfully, I bowed my head and humbly pretended not to deserve such attention or praise. “Oh, it is nothing, Mr. Taylor.”

If Jesus would have appeared at the bottom of my ladder after I completed the job, He would have shaken his head and asked, “What did you do that for?” “What?” I would have asked… thinking He should have been just as proud of me as Mr. Taylor. “Why did you bring attention to yourself? It was a good thing to clean the gutters, but you messed up your reward.” “What reward?” I would have asked, not expecting any pay for my good deed. “Don’t you know our Father sees everything on earth you do? Have you not read that He loves to reward those who serve him without looking for credit? He would have given you something special… but, instead, you chose to get a compliment. Learn to do what’s right without being noticed.”

Pure motives… that’s what I want. But to have pure motives, I’ve got to get rid of self. Is Jesus my joy? Or am I looking for earthly rewards? “That other guy and his disciples are baptizing more people than you are!” someone reported to John the Baptist. In the common mode of competition, we might think, “Let’s double our efforts! What are they doing better than us? We’ve got to get back to number one!” But John didn’t think this way at all. “I must become less and He must become greater. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears his voice. That joy is mine! A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.” John understood what his life was all about.

Jesus taught that his Father is a rewarder. “When you give or fast or pray in order to be seen by men… well… that’s your reward. But if you fast without anyone knowing it; if you pray in a private place where no one even knows what you’re doing; if you give secretly in such a way that your left hand doesn’t know what your right hand is doing… then watch out. The Father will reward you in ways you can’t even imagine! He sees what you do in secret; He knows all motives; and He remembers everything. Trust me, you won’t be sorry you chose his rewards over man’s. Ask our Father for pure motives and look for the opportunities that come your way.” (see Matthew 6)

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-15

“At first I just hung back in the crowd checking everything out. I’m from a Christian home and I am a Christian myself, but, being new, I was really worried about what others were going to think of me. Should I worship God with all my heart, declaring what I really believe, or should I be a little more reserved and just try to fit in? Here’s what I decided: I can’t be afraid of what people think. I just need to be totally consumed with what God thinks. I had a great time on the retreat because I was totally focused on God. I think that’s what happened with a lot of us.”

These were the brief remarks of a tenth grade boy attending a new school. God moved mightily in the hearts of many high school students and teachers at a weekend retreat a couple of weeks ago, and a courageous young man’s chapel message pointed to one of the common conflicts in the Christian journey: fear of man vs fear of God. What a teenager so succinctly stated to a few hundred peers, the Holy Spirit reveals throughout Scripture. Aren’t we glad Noah was more concerned with what God said than what his neighbors thought? Don’t we know he received constant criticism all those years he and his family built the ark? But Noah “walked with God” so he concluded, “Who cares what man says? I will warn of what’s to come, but I will not fail to do exactly what God tells me.” Should we fear the fool with a sharp tongue or the One who bursts the springs of the earth and opens the floodgates of heaven with a single word? The correct answer is obvious, yet how often do we shrink back from bold living for fear of what our neighbor might think?

Peter and John were hauled before the authority of their day for declaring the Gospel of God. They had healed a lame man at the temple gate called Beautiful and many believed their message that Jesus was indeed Healer, Savior, and Christ. “Quit talking about Jesus. We’re warning you… don’t do this any more. Don’t teach in his name; quit saying this crucified Nazarene is the Messiah; and don’t heal anyone else.” What sad threats… but we know these weren’t idle words. Accusations, prison sentences, beatings, and executions remind us there is real danger, but still, who do we heed? Peter and John gave the perfect response: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

At the end of July a friend and his family spent a couple of nights at our home. About ten years ago this native of Switzerland was serving as a missionary in Eastern Europe. Despite having been taught that signs and wonders were a thing of the past, the Swiss missionary began to read the Word with fresh eyes. He concluded that, since God never changes, the compassionate, powerful Jesus that healed the sick and raised the dead when he walked the earth just might want to do the same things in our generation. “Don’t make such statements,” his critics cautioned. “Don’t expect God to actually heal someone the way he did in the Bible. We’re warning you…” So what do you do? You fast and pray and seek God’s heart… then if there is a conflict between the way of the Lord and human opinion, you choose God – even if it means a lonely path. My friend lost all his support and many friends. He, his wife and two sons moved back to Switzerland to make a living the best they could. Over the course of a long wilderness season they lived simply and continued to seek God’s kingdom. Today they can’t help but share the things they have seen and heard. “Jesus still makes the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear! Our all-knowing God still encourages the poor, the humble, and the broken with words of wisdom and knowledge. The Lord of the Harvest still seeks his lost sheep and welcomes them into an eternal kingdom!” God rewards those who fear him more than man. His words to Isaiah still speak to us today.

“Do not fear what they fear… the Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear…” Isaiah 8:12-13

“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth…?” Isaiah 51:12-13

A couple of weeks ago a former student (in his mid twenties) invited me to a graduation party. Chad was also celebrating the release of a book he had written. I was so happy to hear his news and told him I would come. Chad gave me a big hug when I arrived, almost lifting me off the ground. He stands 6’5″ and looks just as athletic as when he was in high school. He set a school record in pole vaulting his junior year but did not compete his senior year. His book, entitled INTERVENTION, tells what prevented him from completing his last year of high school.

I’ve had many friends through the years who have battled destructive habits of all types, but no one has explained addiction the way Chad does in this book. The language is blunt, but the story is true. For a young man, Chad is a great writer. He shared his wrongs, society’s pressures, and the devil’s tactics. He gives God the glory for his rescue and his parents credit for making the tough-love choice to intervene. Three days before he turned eighteen years old, Chad was ‘kidnapped’ from his own bedroom and sent to a wilderness rehabilitation program in Montana. INTERVENTION details the process of regaining a life of sobriety. Go to AMAZON and purchase the only book written by Chad Hepler and support a young author.

What if God had not intervened on our behalf? Whether an addict or not, sin doomed us all to death and destruction. What love the Father demonstrated in his plan of rescue! The Hero is none other than a dearly loved Son, who, after resisting every temptation, presented himself a perfect sacrifice and took all our deserved punishment upon himself at Calvary. Recently, another former student (in her late thirties) told me: “Coach Davis, for the first time in my life, I can honestly say I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.” After rejoicing with her I couldn’t help but ask a question: “How is it that a kid like you can be raised in a Christian home, go to church from day one, go to a Christian school, hear the truth all your life, but wait until now to really know Jesus?” Her answer was profound. “Coach Davis, I didn’t get it. The message went over my head… but I know why. Sin clouds everything. As long as I was in sin, my mind was in a fog… relationship with God made absolutely no sense.”  We forget sin’s power to confuse, deceive, and destroy. Louie Giglio once said, “Sin has a way of shrinking God down in our own estimation while puffing self up.”

The preparation message for Jesus was: “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is near!” The enemy’s retort is always: “No, no, no… There’s no rush. You’re OK. Everything will be alright.” In response to this constant lie, Chad wrote the truth an addict must admit before he can ever be free. “No it won’t! It will never be better. It will never be different. It will never change. You will always be reaching, always missing, always trying, always tired, always disappointed and always in pain. The worst part is the pain gets worse. But there is an answer. One answer, one option, one path to cure this cycle. The one answer you don’t want to hear. The one answer you cover your ears whenever you even think it’s being mentioned. The one answer that makes you cringe: TURN AROUND!”

Can refusal to turn around trump intervention? God forbid.

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’” Mark 1:14-15 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you as holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” Colossians 1:21-23

It is hard to believe another school year is coming to a close… so this will be my last writing for a while. I want to say ‘thanks’ to Steve Wolf, my techi-friend, poet, and song-writer who lives in Colorado but still helps me out. Friends at school kindly ignore my errors before Steve reads, gently corrects, and sends to others.

This story is a bit long to cover in detail, but my family learned some things this past weekend I’d like to pass along. I had to go to school early Saturday morning to get ready for a camp staff meeting, so Susan was in charge of getting Kinsey to the airport for a medical mission trip to Tanzania, Africa. Her team left on schedule last Sunday but was turned back because of the unpredictable volcano that has disrupted so much travel in the world. Kinsey got to come home for a few days before their re-scheduled attempt to get out of the country. Her trip initiated in Dallas so we purchased a one-way ticket from Atlanta to Dallas where she was to meet two friends. From there the trip was scheduled to go to Detroit then Amsterdam then Africa. Well, due to a few reasons, Kinsey arrived at the gate in terminal D sixty seconds after the gate closed. (She could painfully explain the meaning of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. When a door is shut, never to be opened again… and you are late, the feeling is indescribably horrible.) I got the emotional call a few minutes before my staff meeting was to begin. “Kinsey, gather yourself. We just need to solve this problem and get you to Dallas before your next plane leaves for Detroit.”

The problem was… I didn’t know how to solve the problem. The next flight on that airline would get to Dallas too late and no one seemed eager to help. I handed Susan the phone and ran upstairs to my meeting with little hope for a solution. Everyone in the meeting knew Kinsey, so I shared the dilemma and asked my friend, Daniel, to pray. “Lord, we ask for your supernatural intervention to rescue Kinsey in this situation.” The answer to the prayer came when Susan told Kinsey to get back on the train and return to the front of the airport to try to purchase another ticket. On the train, she looked up and saw the father of one of her best friends from high school. He greeted her and asked what was wrong. “Mr. Ramon, I’ve missed a flight and I don’t know how to catch a plane to join my team going to Africa.” Mr. Ramon knew of Kinsey’s trip but little did we know the part he was to play. “Kinsey, I missed three flights on a business trip yesterday due to weather. I know exactly how you feel and we’re going to find a way.”

“He was the perfect person, Dad. He remained calm as he fought for me and he would not take ‘no’ for an answer.” For no charge, Kinsey ended up sitting in the last remaining seat (business class, no less) on a flight from Atlanta to Detroit where she met up with her team for the rest of the journey. Other heroes sacrificed to get her luggage (which did make it on the plane to Dallas) to Detroit and Susan, with tears in her eyes, gave a praise report at the end of our camp meeting.

I had not intended to stress this point with my staff, but God knows what is most important. I recounted, “Jesus says, ‘Seek, ask, and knock’… that is what we all did on Kinsey’s behalf and look at how He answered!” We serve an incredible God! He can overcome our weaknesses and errors; He hears our cries; and He loves to intervene. I have seen this so often and yet I easily forget. If God is this personal and if there is nothing good He can’t do, should I not be at his throne of grace more often? If I plead for a daughter whose important journey was endangered, should I not plead for endangered souls all over the world? If God cares about the small details of our lives, think how He must care about the lost and the captive and the hurting. I want to pray for ‘supernatural intervention’ every day. When I come face to face with the impossible, I want to go straight to God without hesitating. “God, You are able. God, You desire good more than I do. God, You want your incredible kingdom to be witnessed here on earth. So… rescue the perishing, heal the sick, cast out evil, and wake up the sleeping. For your glory, Lord, answer the prayers of your children… and may we not shrink back from asking impossible things. We pray in the Name of the One who lived this way. Amen.”

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going to wake him up…Take away the stone… Lazarus, come out!…Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations (this includes ours!!), for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Jesus lived a simple life of love, trust, and obedience on this earth. His allegiance was to his Father and our allegiance should be to him. Simple… but is it easy?

“I studied the teachings of Jesus in University. Sometimes I thought his words were so beautiful that I cried. I thought, ‘If there is a God full of love and power, surely these things Jesus said are true.’” This was the comment of a Jewish school teacher Susan and I met at a cookout on Mt. Carmel. “His words are true,” I said. “Maybe,” she replied,”but it is impossible to live according to them.” I thought a moment, then answered, “I agree… unless He lives in you… and that is what He promises to do.”

The conversation did not go much further, but I was reminded that Jesus’ words force us to surrender to him, asking him to take over our lives. “With God, all things are possible,”… without God, we have no hope. The beautiful words my Jewish friend talked about were from the Sermon on the Mount. There she also found the impossible ones: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad!” “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” “Do not worry about tomorrow.” “Do not judge.” “Enter through the narrow gate.” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

I am convicted as I copy these excerpts… realizing that Jesus calls me foolish if I don’t build my life on the unshakable Rock. “But how, Lord? Your way is not easy!” Paul might have encouraged this way: “Each day I pick up my cross and follow him. His way is not easy, but He is my Lord and I love him… and I want to know him better. Truthfully, I am dead… but Christ lives in me. His grace is sufficient and I am learning to abide in him.”

Oswald Chambers wrote this (Sept 25 from “My Utmost for His Highest”):

The summing up of our Lord’s teaching is that the relationship which He demands is an impossible one unless He has done a supernatural work in us… No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring cleaning until there is only one purpose left – I am here for God to send me where He will. Every other thing may get fogged, but this relationship to Jesus Christ must never be… The Sermon on the Mount is not an ideal, it is a statement of what will happen to me when Jesus Christ has altered my disposition and put in a disposition like His own. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount… Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are easy to us naturally; He only asks us to do the things we are perfectly fitted to do by His grace, and the cross will come along that line always.

May Paul’s words also be ours: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20